Car-coupling



' 2 shets -sheet 1. D. L. BARNES. GAR COUPLING.

(No Model.)

No. 477,489. Patented Jline 21, 1892.

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GAR COUPLING. V 7 Patented June 21, 1892.

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m I W I UNITED STATES PATENT i OFFICE.

' DAVID L. BARNES, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, ASSIGNOR TO E. CLINTON CLARK,

or SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 477,489, dated June 21, 1892. Application filed September 7, 1891. Serial No. 404,927. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID L. BARNES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, Cook county,lllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vertical-Hook Couplers, of which the following is a specification.

The present in vention is designed as an improvement in various particulars upon the [O coupler covered by United States Letters Patent No. 407,808 issued to me on the th day of July, 1889, the object of the present invention being in part to simplify and lighten the coupler, and thereby cheapen the cost of making the same, and to increase its efficiency, while not lessening its strength; and the invention consists in the features and combinations hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan View of 20 my improved coupler; Fig. 2, a similar view of the rotating hook or knuckle removed from the draw-head; Fig. 3, a rear elevation of such hook. Figs. 4 and 5 are sections on lines at and 5, respectively, of Fig. -1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of the coupler with the knuckle open.

The draw-headA is made substantially like that in my patent referred to, with the exception that it is somewhat lighter and that several changes, hereinafter to be described, have been made to adapt it to the present improvements.

The knuckle B is substantially in the form shownmore particularly in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, being provided with curved ribs 1) on its upper and lower sides and with a hole or opening b to receive and hold the lockingpin C. In my former patent the draw-head was provided with a boss or projection, upon which the knuckle rotated, and in some forms with a projection R, with which the tail of the knuckle engaged and against which it rested when the knuckle was closed. These bosses against the inside of the draw-head.

outward movement of the knuckle.

The drawing and buffing strains are not borne by these flanges or ribs, but by the locking-pin and the shoulders hereinafter referred to.

To hold the knuckle in place when the cars are coupled, I provide a locking-pin O, which also acts, as hereinafter described, to limit the In my former patent this locking-pin was made in three sections, the knuckle being locked both at its top and bottom sides by two of these sections; but in my present coupler I make the locking-pin in a single piece, as shown, the length of the pin' corresponding to the thickness of the tail of the knuckle at the point where the pin passes through the same. Then the knuckle is locked, this pin falls into a hole or opening 0, formed in the bottom of the drawhead, whereby the knuckle is held firmly in position to withstand the buffing or drawing strains, the pin being assisted in withstanding the former strain by shoulders D on the knuckle and draw-head.

Tolift the pin and release the knuckle, I provide a somewhat L-shaped lifting-hook E. (More particularly shown in Figs. 3 and 5.) The longer arm of this hook extends up through the draw-head and may be connected to any operating chain or lever, as desired. The shorter arm engages, as shown, with the bottom of the locking-pin. The lifting-hook should be of such dimensions that when raised until its horizontal arm strikes against the bottom of the draw-head itwill bring the locking-pin into such position that it will register with the tail of the knuckle, but at no time to enter the opening in this knuckle or interfere with the free movement of the latter.

On the lower frame of the draw-head I form an inclined plane F, preferably curved and extending from the opening a in the drawhead to a point near the front thereof, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. This plane should be so placed'that as the knuckle swings 'in one direction or the other the lifting-pin will slide upon the plane forthe purposes hereinafter described, the tail of the hook being cut away, as shown at b", to permit the inclined plane to pass under the same and act upon the pin.

Inside of the front face of the draw-head,

above the opening A, I place a block or bumper G, preferably cast integral with the draw-head and in the form shown.

The operation of the coupler is as follows, supposingtheparts to be in the position shown in Fig. 1: The lifting-hook being raised will raise the locking-pin, as already described,

. until the same registers With the tail of the knuckle. The latter may then be swung open into the position shown in Fig. (i, and as the tail thereof moves toward the right the inclined plane will lift the locking-pin and force it part way out through the upper side of the knuckle into a position to strike against the block G, whereby any further outward movement of the knuckle isprevented. hen the hook is swung in again, the locking-pin will slide down the inclined plane and fall into the hole 0 by its own weight, locking the knuckle until again raised, as already described. By these means I provide a very light and cheap] y-man u factu red coupler composed of but a small nu mberof parts and easily operated, either for coupling or uncoupling; but although I have described more or less precise forms I do not intend to limit myself thereto, but contemplate changes in form and proportions and the substitution of equivalent members, as the same maybe necessary or desirable.

I claim- 1. In a coupler, the combination of a drawhead,a knuckle provided with ribs interlocking with ribs on the draw-head, and a single- .piece vertically-moving coupling-pin travelling with the tail of the knuckle and engaging with an opening in the bottom of the draw-head to lock the knuckle, substantially as described.

2. In a coupler, the combination of a drawhead, a knuckle rotating therein, and asinglepiece locking-pin traveling with the tail of the knuckle and engaging with an opening in the draw-head to lock the kn uckle and adapt ed to be raised as the knuckle swings open into position to limit the movement of the same, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a draw head, a

pin strikes and whereby the outward motion of the knuckle is limited, substantially as described.

5. In a coupler, the combination of a drawhead, a knuckle provided with ribs engaging with ribs on the draw-head, a single-piece locking-pin traveling with the tail of the knuckle and engaging with an opening in the d raw-head to lock the knuckle, and a liftinghook adjusted to raise the pin to a point where it registers with the tail of the knuckle, substantially as described.

0. The combination of a draw-head having an inclined plane and a knuckle rotating in such head and carrying a locking-pin, the tail of the knuckle being cut away to allow the pin to engage with and be raised by the plane as'the knuckle rotates, substantially as described.

7. In a coupler, the combination of a drawhead provided with ribs forming channelsin its upper and lower sides and a hole in its lower side to receive the locking-pin, and a knuckle provided with ribs entering the channels in the draw-head and a hole to receive the locking-pin, the draw-head and knuckle being connected solely by means of the respective ribs and the drawing strain being carried by means of the pin, and thereby prevented from coming upon the ribs, substantially as described.

DAVID L. BARNES.

Witnesses:

FRANK H. CLARK, SAMUEL E. HIBBEN. 

